Food

Steward

Breadcrumb

Food

UVA has a long history of promoting the public good, which includes supporting a culture of equitable, local, and healthy food in our community. From student vegetable gardens to local food in dining facilities, the University is supporting a sustainable food system to reduce negative environmental and social impacts from agriculture, food processing, and distribution while strengthening UVA’s connection within the region.

UVA has three dining operations which provide food to the UVA Health System (Morrison), UVA Dining (Aramark) and Darden School of Business (Flik). The three food providers are working to bring sustainable food options into their spaces through the Sustainable Food Strategy Task Force, a collaborative group implementing UVA’s Sustainable Food Action Plan.

Food Goals

Increase sustainable food purchases to 30% relative to 2010 by 2030

Reduce food waste and single-use servings sent to the landfill by 2030, in alignment with overall UVA waste goals.

Reduce the water and energy impacts of dining operations.

Increase students, staff and faculty awareness of sustainable food systems and seek to translate this heightened awareness into informed choices.

Collaborate within UVA and with the region, bringing together faculty, staff, students, and dining operations to advance sustainable food systems in the broader community.

Progress:

Dining partnerships with local and regional distributors for Virginia food products are creating healthier and more “plant forward” menu options for students, such as the 20% mushroom“Blended Burger”which, after winning student blind taste-tests, led UVA Dining to serve only the locally sourced Blended Burger.

UVA hosted the Bicentennial celebration symposium, Our Evolving Food System: From Slavery to Sovereignty, engaging approximately 200 attendees in a dialogue about the past and current state of our food system, and the steps needed to achieve food sovereignty in our future food system.